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They threw us us one by one in the cold river during a snow storm.
The respondent was part of a group of 12 who fell victim to border violence. The events happened between 5:30 pm and 8 pm on February 14th, 2025. The respondent identified the perpetrators as officers of the Croatian Police and the Croatian Special Intervention Police, a paramilitary unit.
After crossing the Bosnian border, the respondent’s group walked in the Croatian forest for approximately 5 km, grappling with heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures. Of the 12 people in the group, 3 were Indian, 3 were Nepali, 2 were Bangladeshi, and 4 were Pakistani. 2 group members were women. The people involved were of different ages, from their early 20s to late 40s. Most people in the group wore winter clothing to cope with the extreme weather conditions.
After crossing the Bosnian border, the respondent’s group walked in the Croatian forest for approximately 5 km, grappling with heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures. Of the 12 people in the group, 3 were Indian, 3 were Nepali, 2 were Bangladeshi, and 4 were Pakistani. 2 group members were women. The people involved were of different ages, from their early 20s to late 40s. Most people in the group wore winter clothing to cope with the extreme weather conditions.
Location where the group was thrown into the river
Not long after they crossed the Bosnia-Croatia border, the group met law enforcement authorities wearing military uniforms. The respondent identified these authorities as the Croatian Special Intervention Police (SJP), a paramilitary unit that often performs violent pushbacks from Croatia to Bosnia. Two SJP officers arrived in a car and stopped the respondent’s group on the side of the road. The two officers, who carried large assault rifles, forced the group to sit on the wet ground and wait as they called the Croatian Police.
Soon later, 2 police vans arrived at the scene and four officers started questioning the group. When asked what they were doing, the respondent’s group said they were waiting for a taxi. The respondent reported that the police confiscated everybody’s phones and forced those who spoke better English to give their devices’ access credentials The police officers then took pictures of personal material on the phones of Engish speakers.
As the respondent stated, after 1 hour of being forced to sit still under heavy snowfall, the group was forced into the police vans and driven to the nearby river, which we have identified as the Korana, the river-border separating Bosnia and Croatia. At this riverside location, the police willfully destroyed and damaged most of the group’s phones. Ten phones were smashed in half and onother phone had its charging port severly damaged, leaving the group with a single working phone. Then, as the respondant told us, the police officers shoved all group memebers in the cold river one by one. Our interlocutor stressed that the two women were also pushed into the water, and that the rigid temepratures (snowfall, frost) made the cold water all the more painful. The group was then forced to walk in the water along the river’s edge, while the offending officers shone torchlights in their eyes and threw plastic bottles at them.
Soon later, 2 police vans arrived at the scene and four officers started questioning the group. When asked what they were doing, the respondent’s group said they were waiting for a taxi. The respondent reported that the police confiscated everybody’s phones and forced those who spoke better English to give their devices’ access credentials The police officers then took pictures of personal material on the phones of Engish speakers.
As the respondent stated, after 1 hour of being forced to sit still under heavy snowfall, the group was forced into the police vans and driven to the nearby river, which we have identified as the Korana, the river-border separating Bosnia and Croatia. At this riverside location, the police willfully destroyed and damaged most of the group’s phones. Ten phones were smashed in half and onother phone had its charging port severly damaged, leaving the group with a single working phone. Then, as the respondant told us, the police officers shoved all group memebers in the cold river one by one. Our interlocutor stressed that the two women were also pushed into the water, and that the rigid temepratures (snowfall, frost) made the cold water all the more painful. The group was then forced to walk in the water along the river’s edge, while the offending officers shone torchlights in their eyes and threw plastic bottles at them.
One of the respondent’s phones, which was smashed by the Croatian police
The respondent told us that after 10 minutes in the freezing water, the police officers screamed at them to walk back to Bosnia. Soon after, the group climbed out of the water on the Bosnian side of the river and walked away. The group walked under the snow with their clothes soaked in water for about an hour before reaching an open gas station on a main road.
overview
12 people ,
from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and India,
aged Between 20 and 45.